Search Results (4)

Within the context of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), this study draws on a Web of Science dataset (n = 815, 1991–2025) and employs a mixed approach combining scientometric mapping with framework analysis and tool comparison. It systematically reviews the knowledge structure, methodological evolution, and tool genealogy of Campus Sustainability Assessment (CSA). The results reveal a paradigmatic shift from an operations-oriented focus to a whole-of-institution and impact-oriented perspective. Representative tools can be grouped into five categories by purpose—improvement-oriented, ranking and benchmarking, education and curriculum, standards and certification, and policy advocacy and recognition—and can be mapped onto the four domains of governance, academics, operations, and engagement in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Synthesizing quantitative and qualitative evidence, three systemic shortcomings are identified: excessive reliance on self-reporting with limited verification, insufficient evidence of learning outcomes and key competencies, and weak interoperability of indicators across educational stages and frameworks. Looking ahead, four actionable research pathways are proposed: (1) assessment of key competencies centered on learning outcomes with stronger curriculum–practice alignment; (2) policy–indicator interoperability and vertical integration grounded in SDGs and national or sectoral standards; (3) stakeholder co-design enabling an assessment–improvement loop; and (4) remote-sensing-based multi-scale monitoring and data governance. The contribution of this study lies in advancing a unified four-domain framework under a process–outcome–impact evidence chain, while suggesting cross-stage and cross-tool alignment and complementarity. This provides methodological support and an implementation roadmap for shifting CSA from measuring performance to empowering improvement. Full article

Education for sustainable development (ESD) plays a significant role in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and simultaneously tackling the current global ecological challenges. Integration of ESD in Vocational Education and Training (VET) offers opportunities for private sector actors to contribute to reaching these global goals. The dual structure of business-integrated training in Germany further exemplifies a business case and the numerous opportunities available to private companies for engaging with the SDG framework. This briefing paper highlighted available evidence from the ESD literature on VET skills development in advancing the SDGs. Outcomes from best practices were based on the tried-and-tested länder—federal states—piloted vocational training of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) INEBB1 project (INEBB), demonstrating the conditions necessary for vocational education training in sustainability and plausible transfer mechanism within companies. These conditions included (1) the application of deductive concepts, (2) the establishment of blended-learning platforms (place-based and digital), and (3) the adaptation of the criteria and contents from the German Sustainability Codex (DNK) in curriculums designed for the training. This innovative vocational course and certification as specialist training for sustainable development was a model case in bringing the SDGs closer to German companies’ vocational education. INEBB2 sought to upscale applicable and task-based instructions from the experimented model project INEBB1 within different companies through regional, lateral, and vertical transfer strands. The INEBB project model in the review suggested there was a need for further empirical work and policy discourse on educational transfer research in the framework of VET for sustainable development. The INEBB project model integrated the new standard occupational profile items of the environmental protection and the sustainability and digitalised world of work across occupational competencies in the German dual system of vocational education and training that will come into force in August 2021 for all 326 dual training professions. Full article

Teaching formats involving non-university partners are increasingly gaining importance to deliver key competencies needed in higher education for sustainable development. Such teaching formats may also create new transdisciplinary spaces that allow different actors to impact regional transition towards sustainable development. Against this background, this article focuses on how universities foster regional transition through teaching, particularly in collaboration with local non-university. Using the interdisciplinary certificate programs on sustainable development offered by the German Universities of Tübingen and Duisburg-Essen as case studies, we analyze the potentials and challenges of teaching programs on sustainable development for promoting regional transition. Leaning on the multi-level-perspective-approach, we have used qualitative interviews to shed light on the design of cooperation between the university and regional partners as well as the creation and integration of transdisciplinary learning spaces. This paper shows that the impact of such teaching formats on the regional transition consists primarily of awareness and network building. One of the most fundamental challenges faced is unequal power relations in terms of access to resources, financing, and doing the course planning. Simultaneously, co-design, mutual understanding, and collective decisions on roles and responsibilities and—especially—empathy and trust are crucial factors for successfully teaching cooperation towards regional sustainability. Full article

In this study, the correlation between 526 prospective teachers’ beliefs about education for sustainable development (ESD) and their perceptions of self-efficacy and abilities to focus on solutions was addressed. This descriptive study found that prospective teachers had strong beliefs about ESD. In terms of the “beliefs about the implementation of sustainable development” and “beliefs about the limitation of sustainable development”, the prospective teachers who are studying at the faculty of education had stronger beliefs than those enrolled in the Pedagogical Formation Certificate Program. In addition, fourth-year prospective teachers and those perceiving themselves as showing good academic performance had stronger beliefs about ESD. Also, participants’ beliefs about ESD were found to be related to their abilities to focus on solutions and their perceptions of self-efficacy. Additionally, our study found that perceptions of self-efficacy significantly predicts the ability to focus on solutions and beliefs about ESD (29%). One of the limitations of our study is that our findings can be generalized only to a limited extent. Furthermore, further research is needed to validate the predictive variables that have arisen. Finally, longitudinal and experimental research that use qualitative analysis techniques is needed to investigate the implications of the results for professional improvement and to find out what sort of sustainable education practices there are in different education levels. Full article